Conference: Scenarios towards a resource efficient Europe

A major study conducted on behalf of DG Environment indicates that a significant reduction of resource use could be achieved in the built environment by 2030 with zero or close to zero effect on GDP.

The study identified the inefficient use of resources at meso and macro level, identified a number of improvement potentials and estimated the economic and environmental impacts.

The construction sector is a major user of resources.

Much of the environmental impact of a building occurs during the construction phase. However, there are also significant resource efficiency opportunities in the operating phase. At societal level, any investments on improvement and administrative costs are recovered by reduced operational costs.

The study indicates that policy mixes including mandatory and financial instruments have the highest impact on resource efficiency, whereby standardization and certification play a major role in any policy mix.

The long life of buildings and infrastructures pose limits on resource efficiency improvements in the short term, however the investments are overcompensated in the long term.

The conference aims to present and discuss the results of the study to diverse stakeholders and discuss further steps and actions towards a resource efficient Europe.

All finalized topical papers can be accessed at:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/resource_efficiency/index.htm

This conference takes place on Thursday 20 February 2014, in Brussels. Click here to register.